1999 E-mail Exchange with Sir Brian Urquhart: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

E-mail Exchange with Sir Brian Urquhart and students from Marin Academy High School, UC Berkeley's Model UN Program, and Boalt School of Law: March 1999 with Harry Kreisler

Public Opinion

Is the lack of interest or, more particularly, understanding, of public affairs on the part of the average citizen distressing to you? Does the common man's lack of civil engagement affect international politics, and perhaps more importantly, do international politics affect him?

Model UN Program, Marin Academy High School

Unfortunately, a lack of interest in international affairs is a normal reaction in times of peace and prosperity. That lack of interest is certainly reflected at the moment in large sections of the Congress. I am always surprised at the difficulty in bringing home to the public the increasingly interdependent nature of our world and the ways in which events overseas can quite suddenly have an effect on peoples' fortunes at home. This is one of the major obstacles to making international institutions work.

As someone who has witnessed the development of the United Nations, do you feel that the UN has strayed from their original intentions, as stated in the International Declaration of Human Rights? Many people from our generation find themselves disillusioned by the United Nations. What would you say to them?

Leila Yavari, Model UN Program, UC Berkeley

I think it is important to remember that the basic constitution of the United Nations is the United Nations Charter adopted in June, 1945 in San Francisco. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also an immensely important historical document, dates from 1948 and is a declaration and not a mandatory document of law. There is of course a major contradiction between them. For example, Article 2.7 of the Charter says that the organization may not interfere in the internal affairs of a member state. Concerns for human rights increasingly demand exactly this kind of interference.

I do indeed believe that the UN has strayed from its original intentions, not so much in the field of human rights, where a good deal of progress has been made, but in the lack of political will and international solidarity which has made the UN impotent in a number of situations where it ought to have acted effectively.

I strongly sympathize with the disillusionment of your generation but I believe its cause is more this lack of will and solidarity than an indifference to human rights.

In your interview with Harry Kriesler, you mentioned that people in 1945 were much more optimistic than people are today. What do you think are the reasons or bases for this increasing pessimism about the international situation?

Brad Herman, Model UN Program, UC Berkeley

In 1945, we had just been through six years of world war and most people were not only determined but even convinced that we had learned our lesson and that world war must never happen again. It is now more than fifty years since the world war and there is no apparent immediate threat of some new comprehensive disaster. There is therefore no powerful incentive to make the international system work as we all hoped it would work in 1945. In spite of the communications revolution, I think there is also a backlash against the notion that the more fortunate members of human society have an obligation to help the less fortunate members. There is thus a somewhat cynical attitude to internationalism and international organization. The obvious threat of some new comprehensive disaster will undoubtedly change this attitude, but the question is whether it will change it in time.